Demographics of East Timor

This is a demography of the population of East Timor including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of East Timor
Population pyramid of East Timor in 2020
Population1,445,006 (2022 est.)
Growth rate2.15% (2022 est.)
Birth rate30.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate5.61 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy69.92 years
 • male68.25 years
 • female71.7 years
Fertility rate4.21 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate33.69 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate-3.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years38.29%
15–64 years56.38%
65 and over5.33%
Sex ratio
Total1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth1.07 male(s)/female
Under 151.06 male(s)/female
65 and over0.79 male(s)/female
Nationality
NationalityTimorese
East Timor demographic change
East Timor's population (1861-2011).

Vital statistics

UN estimates

Registration of vital events is in East Timor not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates. Population estimates account for under numeration in population censuses.[1]

Mid-year population (thousands) Live births (thousands) Deaths (thousands) Natural change (thousands) Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rate (TFR) Infant mortality (per 1000 live births) Life expectancy (in years)
1950   415   18   15   3 43.4 35.9 7.5 6.61 274.2 29.05
1951   418   18   14   4 43.7 34.2 9.5 6.59 271.8 29.30
1952   423   19   14   4 43.9 33.4 10.5 6.56 268.5 29.62
1953   427   19   14   5 44.2 32.9 11.2 6.54 265.8 29.89
1954   432   19   14   5 44.4 32.5 11.9 6.51 262.8 30.20
1955   437   20   14   5 44.6 32.1 12.5 6.48 259.7 30.52
1956   443   20   14   6 44.8 31.8 13.0 6.45 256.7 30.83
1957   449   20   14   6 45.1 31.6 13.5 6.42 254.0 31.12
1958   455   21   14   6 45.3 31.3 14.0 6.39 251.3 31.40
1959   462   21   14   7 45.5 31.1 14.4 6.36 248.6 31.70
1960   469   21   14   7 45.7 30.6 15.1 6.32 244.3 32.20
1961   476   22   14   7 45.7 30.2 15.5 6.27 241.1 32.57
1962   483   22   14   8 45.7 29.9 15.9 6.22 237.9 32.95
1963   491   22   15   8 45.6 29.5 16.1 6.16 235.4 33.26
1964   499   23   15   8 45.5 29.2 16.3 6.08 232.5 33.60
1965   507   23   14   9 45.2 28.3 16.9 6.01 226.4 34.36
1966   516   23   14   9 44.9 27.6 17.2 5.93 221.2 35.00
1967   525   23   14   9 44.5 26.9 17.6 5.86 215.3 35.73
1968   535   24   14   9 44.1 26.3 17.7 5.79 211.5 36.23
1969   544   24   14   10 43.6 25.8 17.8 5.72 207.8 36.71
1970   554   24   14   10 43.1 25.3 17.8 5.66 204.3 37.17
1971   564   24   14   10 42.4 24.6 17.7 5.58 200.2 37.72
1972   574   24   14   10 41.6 24.0 17.6 5.49 195.8 38.32
1973   584   24   14   10 40.7 23.2 17.5 5.39 190.7 38.99
1974   592   24   15   9 39.8 25.0 14.8 5.29 200.8 36.88
1975   600   23   24 − 0 39.1 39.8 −0.7 5.19 241.2 24.83
1976   610   23   23   0 38.3 37.9 0.4 5.12 229.8 25.96
1977   619   23   24 −1 37.9 39.9 −2.0 5.09 242.6 24.43
1978   628   24   27 − 4 37.9 43.8 −5.9 5.09 266.9 21.84
1979   635   24   27 − 2 38.3 42.3 −3.9 5.14 258.8 22.53
1980   642   25   21   3 39.0 33.6 5.4 5.22 203.3 28.45
1981   649   27   21   6 41.3 32.5 8.8 5.53 193.5 29.57
1982   655   27   21   7 41.6 31.3 10.3 5.56 183.4 30.82
1983   662   28   20   7 41.9 30.6 11.3 5.59 177.0 31.64
1984   671   28   19   9 42.2 28.4 13.7 5.61 161.5 33.75
1985   682   29   19   9 42.4 28.5 13.9 5.65 161.4 33.80
1986   694   29   19   10 42.5 28.1 14.5 5.67 157.4 34.34
1987   708   30   19   11 42.5 26.7 15.7 5.68 148.7 35.64
1988   723   31   19   11 42.5 26.6 15.8 5.72 148.4 35.75
1989   740   31   14   17 42.3 19.1 23.3 5.76 144.4 44.55
1990   758   32   14   18 42.2 18.7 23.5 5.81 142.6 44.95
1991   773   32   14   18 41.8 18.4 23.3 5.84 140.8 44.99
1992   784   33   14   19 41.6 17.5 24.1 5.87 134.2 46.28
1993   795   33   13   20 41.2 16.8 24.4 5.88 128.5 47.25
1994   807   33   13   20 40.9 16.1 24.8 5.91 123.6 48.25
1995   819   33   13   20 40.6 16.3 24.3 5.94 123.5 48.02
1996   831   34   13   20 40.2 15.8 24.4 5.94 118.7 48.82
1997   843   34   13   21 39.9 15.4 24.5 5.96 114.2 49.52
1998   855   34   13   21 39.6 15.7 23.9 5.96 115.1 49.12
1999   867   34   16   19 39.4 18.0 21.4 5.97 118.0 45.70
2000   878   35   9   26 39.1 10.2 28.9 5.98 77.0 58.57
2001   893   35   9   26 39.1 9.9 29.2 6.01 73.3 59.36
2002   910   36   9   27 39.0 9.6 29.4 6.02 69.7 60.15
2003   927   36   9   27 38.3 9.3 29.0 5.95 66.5 60.87
2004   946   36   9   27 37.6 9.1 28.5 5.85 63.1 61.63
2005   969   35   9   27 36.5 8.8 27.7 5.71 59.8 62.33
2006   995   35   8   27 35.4 8.5 26.9 5.56 56.7 63.07
2007   1 019   35   8   26 34.2 8.3 25.9 5.40 53.9 63.72
2008   1 043   35   8   26 33.2 8.1 25.1 5.23 51.4 64.33
2009   1 066   35   9   26 32.3 8.0 24.3 5.04 49.2 64.85
2010   1 088   34   9   26 31.4 8.0 23.4 4.85 47.3 65.30
2011   1 113   34   9   25 30.7 7.9 22.8 4.66 45.7 65.70
2012   1 138   34   9   25 29.8 7.7 22.1 4.44 44.1 66.08
2013   1 162   34   9   25 29.1 7.6 21.5 4.27 42.6 66.44
2014   1 185   34   9   25 28.4 7.6 20.9 4.09 41.2 66.79
2015   1 206   33   9   24 27.7 7.5 20.2 3.90 39.8 67.14
2016   1 225   33   9   24 27.0 7.3 19.7 3.74 38.5 67.45
2017   1 243   33   9   24 26.5 7.2 19.3 3.60 37.3 67.75
2018   1 262   33   9   24 25.9 7.0 18.9 3.45 36.2 68.02
2019   1 280   33   9   24 25.5 6.9 18.6 3.34 35.2 68.27
2020   1 300   33   9   24 25.3 6.8 18.4 3.25 34.2 68.48
2021   1 321   33   10   23 24.9 7.2 17.7 3.15 33.4 67.74

Fertility and Births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[2]

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
2003 52.1 7.8 50.5 7.4
2009–2010 33.2 5.7 (5.1) 33.1 4.9 (4.2) 33.2 6.0 (5.4)
2016 26.8 4.2 (3.5) 28.4 3.5 (3.0) 26.2 4.6 (3.8)

Fertility rate by municipality

Aileu Municipality and Ainaro Municipality have the highest fertility rate with 5.5 children per woman, followed by Ermera Municipality with 5.4 children per woman.[3]

Municipality Fertility rate in 2004 Fertility rate in 2010 Fertility rate in 2015 Decline between 2004 and 2015
Dili6.75.33.9Decrease 2.8
Liquiçá7.16.25.1Decrease 2.0
Covalima7.05.64.7Decrease 2.3
Manufahi7.35.64.9Decrease 2.4
Manatuto6.75.64.6Decrease 2.1
Aileu8.47.05.5Decrease 3.0
Lautém7.76.45.2Decrease 2.5
Bobonaro6.95.94.7Decrease 2.2
Baucau6.95.84.7Decrease 2.2
Viqueque6.35.34.6Decrease 1.7
Ermera8.26.95.4Decrease 2.8
Ainaro8.36.45.5Decrease 2.8
Oecusse (SAR)6.95.24.2Decrease 2.7
 Timor-Leste7.25.94.7Decrease 2.5

Between 2014/15, around 43.5% of the births occurred in a health facility, up from 36.3% in 2010/11. This percentage varies widely from 77.5% in Dili Municipality to only 15.1% of all births in Ermera Municipality.

Life expectancy at birth

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.[4]

Period Life expectancy
in Years		 Period Life expectancy in
Years
1950–1955 30.0 1985–1990 46.5
1955–1960 32.5 1990–1995 50.5
1960–1965 35.0 1995–2000 57.0
1965–1970 37.5 2000–2005 61.5
1970–1975 40.0 2005–2010 66.4
1975–1980 31.2 2010–2015 67.7
1980–1985 39.9

Population pyramids
Population by Sex and Age Group (Census 11.VII.2015) [5]
Age group Male Female Total %
Total 601 112 582 531 1 183 643 100
0-4 77 896 72 410 150 306 12.70
5-9 80 377 75 705 156 082 13.19
10-14 80 721 75 548 156 269 13.20
15-19 69 839 67 033 136 872 11.56
20-24 52 759 54 244 107 003 9.04
25-29 45 486 47 464 92 950 7.85
30-34 35 934 36 461 72 395 6.12
35-39 24 245 24 645 48 890 4.13
40-44 29 097 26 779 55 876 4.72
45-49 25 044 22 274 47 318 4.00
50-54 18 661 16 776 35 437 2.99
55-59 14 436 12 867 27 303 2.31
60-64 13 864 14 516 28 380 2.40
65-69 14 611 16 427 31 038 2.62
70-74 8 949 9 204 18 153 1.53
75-79 4 862 5 009 9 961 0.84
80-84 2 399 2 798 5 197 0.44
85+ 1 932 2 281 4 213 0.36
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0-14 238 994 223 663 462 657 39.09
15-64 329 365 323 059 652 334 55.11
65+ 32 753 35 809 68 562 5.79
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2018) (Data refer to national projections.): [6]
Age Group Male Female Total %
Total 642 639 618 768 1 261 407 100
0–4 86 042 78 681 164 723 13.06
5–9 84 950 76 259 161 209 12.78
10–14 82 088 75 015 157 103 12.45
15–19 75 602 71 942 147 544 11.70
20–24 60 513 60 703 121 216 9.61
25–29 46 777 50 239 97 016 7.69
30–34 40 344 42 718 83 062 6.58
35–39 28 909 30 013 58 922 4.67
40–44 24 228 23 965 48 193 3.82
45–49 27 718 25 146 52 864 4.19
50–54 21 620 19 325 40 945 3.25
55–59 16 674 15 419 32 093 2.54
60–64 14 583 14 712 29 295 2.32
65-69 11 764 12 441 24 205 1.92
70-74 9 187 9 388 18 575 1.47
75-79 6 452 6 789 13 241 1.05
80+ 5 188 6 013 11 201 0.89
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0–14 253 080 229 955 483 035 38.29
15–64 356 968 354 182 711 150 56.38
65+ 32 591 34 631 67 222 5.33

Median age

In 2015 the median age of the population was 19.6 years old. The population living in rural areas is slightly younger (19.0) compared to the population living in urban areas (20.6). Ainaro Municipality has the lowest median age with 17.3 years, while Dili Municipality has the highest median age with 21.2 years.[7]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics
An East Timorese man partially dressed in traditional clothing

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook[8]

Population
Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates
1,242,000 (2017)

Birth rate
33.4 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate
5.9 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Population growth rate
2.36% (2017 est.)

Net migration rate
-3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Infant mortality rate
total: 35.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 68.4 years
male: 66.8 years
female: 70.1 years (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate
4.97 children born/woman (2017 est)

Nationality
noun: East Timorese
adjective: East Timorese

Ethnic groups
Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian), Papuan, small Chinese particularly Cantonese people and Europeans particularly Portuguese people descent.

Religions
Roman Catholic 97.6% (2015 est.)
Protestant/Evangelical 2% (2015 est.)
Islam 0.2% (2015 est.)
Other 0.2% (2015 est.)

Languages
Tetum (official), Portuguese (official), Indonesian (constitutionally defined as a 'working language') and English (constitutionally defined as a 'working language').
Note: There are a total of about 16 indigenous languages, of which Tetum, Galole, Mambae, and Kemak are spoken by significant numbers of people. The Tetum language is partially influenced by European languages, particularly Portuguese, a legacy of Portuguese rule.

Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 67.5% (2015 est.)
male: 71.5%
female: 63.4%

After achieving independence, East Timor had a high illiteracy rate, with 55% of women and 46% of men illiterate. Approximately 18% of the adult population had achieved secondary education and approximately 1.4% of them had an academic degree or achieved other higher education, nearly all of whom resided in urban areas, primarily the capital Dili. Attempts to improve education services face challenges in the form of a lack of educated and experienced teachers. Continuing high fertility rates also translates to greater strains on the government to increase education budgets. The United Nations (UN) has assisted in rebuilding the education system increasing the number of teachers and rehabilitating many schools, leading to a rapid increase in school enrollment. However, problems remain as the quality of education was deemed secondary to the need to increase enrollment in East Timor.

Another problem faced in increasing the education levels includes the economic conditions of the population. With high proportions of the population living below the poverty line and large households with many children, the direct costs of schooling is significant for families. Lack of monetary resources to send children to school imposes greater difficulty in increasing enrollment rates in schools. In addition, parents may be disillusioned with the poor quality of education and thus may not even be interested to send their children to schools. Much remains to be done to establish a new curriculum and support it with texts and learning materials to improve the quality of education. The variety of language spoken also means a large number of children do not speak the language of instruction – Portuguese – and this causes them to be marginalised. Many teachers do not speak Portuguese.

The inaccessibility of schools with proper facilities adds to the problem of providing adequate education to the population. Schools are located far away from homes and, coupled with the poor conditions of schools, may inhibit the early enrollment of children or lead to early drop-outs. Schools in rural areas face substantial lack of facilities to render them safe. As for the schools in urban areas, significant urban migration has meant that the supply of schools in urban areas have not managed to keep up with the increasing demand; leading to overcrowding in urban schools.

Besides the problems faced at the level of the individual households and the schools, problems in the governance and management of education are also significant impediments to raising education levels in East Timor. The lack of qualified personnel in critical positions within the education ministry has meant that overall policy making, planning and management functions are restricted. Management of schools at the district level is often under-qualified due to the lack of formal training. Today therefore, East Timor faces many challenges in increasing the literacy rates of their people.

At the end of Portuguese rule, literacy was at 5%.[9] East Timor's adult literacy rate in 2010 was 58.3%, up from 37.6% in 2001.[10] By 2021 it was 68% among adults, and 84% among those aged 15–24, being slightly higher among women than men.[11]: 27 

Education
Escola Portuguesa Ruy Cinatti, the Portuguese School of Díli

East Timor's adult literacy rate in 2010 was 58.3%, up from 37.6% in 2001.[10] At the end of Portuguese rule, literacy was at 5%.[12] By 2021 it was 68% among adults, and 84% among those aged 15-24, being slightly higher among women than men.[11]: 27  More girls than boys attend school, although some drop out upon reaching puberty.[11]: 25  Primary schools exist throughout the country, although the quality of materials and teaching is often poor. Secondary schools are generally limited to municipal capitals. Education takes up 10% of the national budget.[11]: 27 

As of 2016 22% of working age women (15-49) and 19% of working age men had no education, 15% of women and 18% of men had some primary education, 52% of women and 51% of men had some secondary education, and 11% of women and 12% of men had higher education. Overall, 75% of women and 82% of men were literate.[13]: 2 

The country's main university is the National University of East Timor. There are also four colleges.[14]

Since independence, both Indonesian and Tetum have lost ground as media of instruction, while Portuguese has increased: in 2001 only 8.4% of primary school and 6.8% of secondary school students attended a Portuguese-medium school; by 2005 this had increased to 81.6% for primary and 46.3% for secondary schools.[15] Indonesian formerly played a considerable role in education, being used by 73.7% of all secondary school students as a medium of instruction, but by 2005 Portuguese was used by most schools in Baucau, Manatuto, as well as the capital district.[15] Portugal provides support to about 3% of the public schools in East Timor, focused on those in urban areas, further encouraging the use of the Portuguese language.[11]: 28 

The Philippines has sent Filipino teachers to East Timor to teach English, so as to facilitate a program between the two countries, under which deserving East Timorese nationals with English language skills will be granted university scholarships in the Philippines.[15]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)[16] finds that Timor-Leste is fulfilling only 84.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.[17] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Timor-Leste income level, the nation is achieving 90.6% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 78.4% for secondary education.[17]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of East Timor.
  1. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2022). "World Population Prospects 2022 Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XLS (91MB)). United Nations Population Division. 27 (Online ed.). New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. rows 8789:8860, cols M,X,AE,S,AH,S,AA,AV,AI. Archived from the original on 2022-08-09.
  2. "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys".
  3. http://www.statistics.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/2015-Census-Fertility-Report12.pdf
  4. "World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations". esa.un.org. Retrieved 2018-08-26.
  5. "Population by Age & Sex". Statistics Timor-Leste General Directorate of Statistics. Statistics Timor-Leste. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  6. "UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics".
  7. 2015 Timor-Leste Population and Housing Census – Data Sheet
  8. "East & Southeast Asia :: TIMOR-LESTE". CIA The World Factbook. 11 April 2023.
  9. Roslyn Appleby (30 August 2010). ELT, Gender and International Development: Myths of Progress in a Neocolonial World. Multilingual Matters. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-84769-303-7.
  10. "National adult literacy rates (15+), youth literacy rates (15–24) and elderly literacy rates (65+)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
  11. "Timor-Leste Country Report 2022". Bertelsmann Stiftung. 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. Roslyn Appleby (30 August 2010). ELT, Gender and International Development: Myths of Progress in a Neocolonial World. Multilingual Matters. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-84769-303-7.
  13. "Timor-Leste 2016 Demographic and Health Survey Key Findings" (PDF). General Directorate of Statistics. 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  14. Robinson, Geoffrey (2010). If You Leave Us Here, We Will Die: How Genocide Was Stopped in East Timor. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 72.
  15. "Table 5.7 – Profile Of Students That Attended The 2004/05 Academic Year By Rural And Urban Areas And By District". Direcção Nacional de Estatística. Archived from the original on 14 November 2009.
  16. "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  17. "Timor-Leste - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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